Strategy

Providence, R.I. -- Verizon said Tuesday it has officially opened its first tri-lingual FiOS retail store, where employees are ready to serve customers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The store is located in Providence, R.I.

“Having employees in our store who speak Spanish and Portuguese will enhance the experience for our customers," Susan Retta, VP marketing for Verizon, said.

Employees at the new Verizon FiOS store will be able to help FiOS customers with questions about their FiOS Internet, TV and voice service.

J.C. Penney is in the very beginning of its transformation. But the first component of the strategy — a new pricing model that jettisoned hundreds of promotions in favor a three-tier model — in already in place. And not surprisingly, experts are weighing in.

Redmond, Wash. -- REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) promoted Bill Baumann and Brad Brown to senior VP information technology, and e-commerce and direct sales respectively.

In addition, Kathleen Peterson has been named VP of REI Private Brands.

HOUSTON — Specialty apparel and accessories retailer Charming Charlie has appointed four retail executives as part of the ongoing development of the company’s internal structure and another step in its ongoing national expansion, including the opening of 60 retail locations in 2012.

New York -- Target Corp. on Monday named Jeffrey Jones as executive VP and chief marketing officer, effective immediately. He succeeds Michael Francis who left the company in October to join J.C. Penney.

New York -- Saks Inc. has selected Oracle's retail merchandising, planning and optimization applications and the Oracle e-business suite 12.1 to help integrate business operations and improve margins and profitability across all channels.

The implementation is part of a business-wide initiative by Saks to establish a modern, flexible and scalable IT platform that will provide finance, human resources, merchandising, commerce and store operations teams with real-time, mobile access to sales, inventory and performance data they require.

Miami -- Jones Lang LaSalle is enhancing the retail services it offers by adding boots on the ground in select local markets across the country, beginning with Florida. The firm will intensify its resources at the local level, leveraging its retail tenant solutions (RTS) capabilities – formerly known as Corporate Retail Solutions – to provide local market retail tenant representation services.

SEATTLE — Recreational Equipment Inc. has promoted Bill Baumann and Brad Brown to SVP information technology, and e-commerce and direct sales respectively. In addition, Kathleen Peterson has been named VP REI Private Brands.